Arab World

Red Cross Says to cut 2026 Budget by 17%, Shed 2,900 Jobs
Red Cross Says to cut 2026 Budget by 17%, Shed 2,900 Jobs

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday it was cutting its 2026 budget by 17 percent amid declining donor contributions and would slash the equivalent of 2,900 full-time positions. "The ICRC remains committed to working on the front lines of conflict, where few others can operate," the organization's president Mirjana Spoljaric ...

No Fossil Fuels Plan in Latest Draft Deal from COP30 Presidency
No Fossil Fuels Plan in Latest Draft Deal from COP30 Presidency

COP30 host Brazil unveiled a draft agreement on Friday that does not include a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, a key demand by many countries at the climate summit. There is no mention of "fossil fuels" in the latest slimmed-down text proposal, released on the final day of the major UN climate conference in the rainforest city of ...

Tech Firms Lead Stock Rout as AI Bubble Fears Linger
Tech Firms Lead Stock Rout as AI Bubble Fears Linger

Tech firms led stock losses on Friday as investors struggled to shake off fears about an AI bubble, and after a sell-off on Wall Street sparked by job data dealt a further blow to hopes for a US interest rate cut. A blockbuster earnings report from chip bellwether Nvidia on Wednesday seemed to settle nerves that vast investments in the artificial ...

Pupils Kidnapped from Catholic School in Central Nigeria
Pupils Kidnapped from Catholic School in Central Nigeria

An unknown number of pupils have been abducted from a Catholic school in central Nigeria by armed gangs, police and a government official said Friday, in the second such incident in less than a week. The school kidnappings and an attack on a church earlier this week come weeks after US President Donald Trump threatened military action over what ...

US–Russia 28-Point Plan for Ukraine
US–Russia 28-Point Plan for Ukraine

A draft 28-point plan backed by US President Donald Trump would require Ukraine to offer territorial and security concessions to Moscow, while Russia would be readmitted to the G8 group and receive sanctions relief. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been "quietly" working on the plan for around a month, ...

Japan Local Authorities Approve Restart of World's Biggest Nuclear Plant
Japan Local Authorities Approve Restart of World's Biggest Nuclear Plant

Japanese local authorities approved Friday the restart of the world's biggest nuclear plant, a key step in the process to get it back online after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Hideyo Hanazumi, governor of Niigata province, where the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is located, told a news conference he "would approve" the resumption, which will need ...

Three Killed as 5.5-Magnitude Quake Hits Bangladesh
Three Killed as 5.5-Magnitude Quake Hits Bangladesh

A powerful earthquake struck Bangladesh on Friday outside the crowded capital Dhaka, killing at least three people, health officials said. The 5.5-magnitude quake struck at 10:38 am (0438 GMT) near the city of Narsingdi, about 33 kilometres (16 miles) from Dhaka, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The Friday morning earthquake sparked ...

Washington Sends Warning with Cancellation of LAF Chief’s Trip
SpotlightWashington Sends Warning with Cancellation of LAF Chief’s Trip

Washington's abrupt cancellation of Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) chief General Rodolphe Haykal's planned visit earlier this week signals deepening U.S. dissatisfaction with both Lebanon's approach to Hezbollah's disarmament and the LAF’s public stances on ongoing Israeli border incursions. Haykal, appointed to his post in March, was poised for ...

New Strikes on Gaza Kill Five
New Strikes on Gaza Kill Five

Gaza health authorities said fresh Israeli air strikes killed five people on Thursday, as ceasefire mediator Qatar warned the renewed attacks threatened to undermine the fragile weeks-long truce between Israel and Hamas. The new strikes came the morning after one of the deadliest days in the Gaza Strip since the truce began on October 10. Qatar, ...

Netanyahu Says Hezbollah Threat Has Become “More Complex and Dangerous”
Netanyahu Says Hezbollah Threat Has Become “More Complex and Dangerous”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the threat posed by Hezbollah has “completely changed” since 7 October, noting that the security situation had “significantly shifted” in recent weeks. He warned that the Lebanese group now represents a “more complex and more dangerous” challenge for Israel. Netanyahu said Israel no ...